Tranquil Villages

Berwick St John

Nestled in the chalk downs at the head of the Ebble Valley, six miles east of Shaftesbury, is the village of Berwick St John. To the north White Sheet Hill marks the steep descent down from the pre-turnpike route running westwards along the downs from Salisbury, whilst to the south-east lies the early Iron Age hill fort of Winklebury Hill, also known as Vespasian’s Camp. On a lofty ridge 260m above sea level the hill fort commands an extensive view stretching as far as the Isle of Wight on a clear day.

There is a great deal of evidence of prehistoric activity in the area and many of the parish’s sites were excavated by Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers, widely considered to by the father of modern archaeology, who lived at nearby Rushcombe House.

The village church of St John the Baptist was restored in 1861, it contains a number of monuments to local families of distinction and two interesting effigies of knights.